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io's mass is 8.93 x 1022 kg, and it loses about a ton (1000 kilograms) of sulfur dioxide per second to jupiter's magnetosphere. assuming this rate is constant, what fraction of its mass would io lose in 4.5 billion years? express your answer in percent of io's mass to two significant figures.

User Zimano
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Final answer:

Io would lose approximately 0.159% of its mass over a period of 4.5 billion years at the constant rate of losing 1000 kg of sulfur dioxide per second to Jupiter's magnetosphere.

Step-by-step explanation:

The mass of Io is given as 8.93 x 1022 kg, and it loses about 1000 kilograms of sulfur dioxide per second to Jupiter's magnetosphere. Over a period of 4.5 billion years, which is 4.5 x 109 years, the total mass lost would be:

Total mass lost = Mass loss rate (kg/s) × number of seconds in 4.5 billion years

If we calculate the number of seconds in 4.5 billion years (4.5 x 109 years × 365.25 days/year × 24 hours/day × 3600 seconds/hour), we get approximately 1.42 x 1017 seconds. Multiplying this by the mass loss rate of 1000 kg/s gives us a total mass loss of 1.42 x 1020 kg.

To find the fraction of its mass that Io would lose, we divide the total mass lost by Io's initial mass:

Mass loss fraction = Total mass lost / Initial mass of Io = (1.42 x 1020 kg) / (8.93 x 1022 kg)

This fraction is approximately 0.00159. To express this as a percentage, we multiply by 100, which gives us 0.159% to two significant figures.

User CoryDorning
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